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First I'll tell you what I'm in a search for, then I'll relay the story (in case somebody out there can help but doesn't care to know all the gory details
)
I need 2 OEM connecting rods for a 1981 Monte Carlo that has the 3.8 Liter / 231 cu. in. Turbocharged Buick V6. I'm guessing the motor would not be out of balance using 2 new ones with the 4 still good ones in the motor now?? Or am I out of luck and need to buy the expensive aftermarket ones that are available?
Now the story...Back four decades ago my father had a friend who owned a Chevy dealership and he was ordering some inventory to have on his lot. In going down the list of options for the Monte Carlo, factory A/C was right next to the Turbo V6 on the order sheet and the wrong box got checked. So when the car shows up it has no A/C but has the Turbo V6. This guy calls my father and tells him that he has a car my father should own because my dad was quite familiar with turbos back then. He was big into tractor pulling and was president of the NYSTPA. He took what was originally a stock 1961 John Deere 4010 with a 404 cubic inch motor and about 75hp made a bunch of modifications (rules said he had to run the stock block) like bigger fuel pump, reworked head, 3 turbos pushing over 100 lbs of boost, and too many other things to list to the point where he was generating 700-800 hp...but I digress. Anyway, my dad ends up with the car and is quite happy with it. It didn't make crazy power, but was better than some of the V8s and got 20+ mpg.
In the late 80's he's dating this girl and he wants out of the relationship ("I'd rather want something I don't have than have something I don't want," was his philosophy on women back then). The girl has no wheels so to get rid of her my father signs the title to the Monte over to her with the understanding that when she is done with the car he gets it back, she is not to sell it or junk it. At some point in 1990 she stops for gas and the car won't restart so it gets towed back to the farm and parked in the barn where it sat until about 2 weeks ago when my now 80 year old father gives it to my soon to be son-in-law Nick.
Nick is a certified GM mechanic so he goes to work and pulls the motor out and starts to take it apart. There is only about half a quart of oil in the pan, two spun rod bearings, broken rings, big pieces of broken piston, just a mess. We take the block, heads, rods, and crank to an engine builder we've used over the years to find out the following: cylinders out of round by as much as .015, crank is bent .004, heads need resurfacing as well as guides and seats, AND 2 of the connecting rods are no good.
Nick thought about putting a 5.8 liter V8 like GM puts in many pickups into the car (would be a lot cheaper for sure!) but my father kinda likes the idea of keeping the car original so he and I both agree along with Nick to put some cash into it to keep it stock. There were about 13,000 Monte Carlos with the turbo V6 produced in 1980 and about 3,000 in 1981 before the Grand National came on the scene (my dad also owned one of those) and the turbo Monte went away. And who knows, someday I may end up with my dad's old car.
So now that you know the whole story, anybody out there have any old 1981 Buick 3.8 L connecting rods mixed in with their old XS1100 parts?? Or have any idea about where I might find some?
Thanks and I hope you were at least entertained!
)I need 2 OEM connecting rods for a 1981 Monte Carlo that has the 3.8 Liter / 231 cu. in. Turbocharged Buick V6. I'm guessing the motor would not be out of balance using 2 new ones with the 4 still good ones in the motor now?? Or am I out of luck and need to buy the expensive aftermarket ones that are available?
Now the story...Back four decades ago my father had a friend who owned a Chevy dealership and he was ordering some inventory to have on his lot. In going down the list of options for the Monte Carlo, factory A/C was right next to the Turbo V6 on the order sheet and the wrong box got checked. So when the car shows up it has no A/C but has the Turbo V6. This guy calls my father and tells him that he has a car my father should own because my dad was quite familiar with turbos back then. He was big into tractor pulling and was president of the NYSTPA. He took what was originally a stock 1961 John Deere 4010 with a 404 cubic inch motor and about 75hp made a bunch of modifications (rules said he had to run the stock block) like bigger fuel pump, reworked head, 3 turbos pushing over 100 lbs of boost, and too many other things to list to the point where he was generating 700-800 hp...but I digress. Anyway, my dad ends up with the car and is quite happy with it. It didn't make crazy power, but was better than some of the V8s and got 20+ mpg.
In the late 80's he's dating this girl and he wants out of the relationship ("I'd rather want something I don't have than have something I don't want," was his philosophy on women back then). The girl has no wheels so to get rid of her my father signs the title to the Monte over to her with the understanding that when she is done with the car he gets it back, she is not to sell it or junk it. At some point in 1990 she stops for gas and the car won't restart so it gets towed back to the farm and parked in the barn where it sat until about 2 weeks ago when my now 80 year old father gives it to my soon to be son-in-law Nick.
Nick is a certified GM mechanic so he goes to work and pulls the motor out and starts to take it apart. There is only about half a quart of oil in the pan, two spun rod bearings, broken rings, big pieces of broken piston, just a mess. We take the block, heads, rods, and crank to an engine builder we've used over the years to find out the following: cylinders out of round by as much as .015, crank is bent .004, heads need resurfacing as well as guides and seats, AND 2 of the connecting rods are no good.
Nick thought about putting a 5.8 liter V8 like GM puts in many pickups into the car (would be a lot cheaper for sure!) but my father kinda likes the idea of keeping the car original so he and I both agree along with Nick to put some cash into it to keep it stock. There were about 13,000 Monte Carlos with the turbo V6 produced in 1980 and about 3,000 in 1981 before the Grand National came on the scene (my dad also owned one of those) and the turbo Monte went away. And who knows, someday I may end up with my dad's old car.
So now that you know the whole story, anybody out there have any old 1981 Buick 3.8 L connecting rods mixed in with their old XS1100 parts??
Or have any idea about where I might find some?Thanks and I hope you were at least entertained!